ML18037A365

Forwards Rept Detailing Causes of 810708-09 Release of 5.3 Ci Liquid Radwaste Into Lake Ontario.Actions Taken to Reduce Frequency & Magnitude of Future Releases Discussed

ML18037A365
Person / Time
Site:	Nine Mile Point
Issue date:	10/30/1981
From:	LEMPGES T E NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORP.
To:	Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NMP-3818, NUDOCS 8111040298
Download: ML18037A365 (10)

Text

REGULATORYrrORMATIONDISTRIBUTIONSYSTEM(RIDGEDACCESSIOV<NBR:8111040298DOC,DATEi81/10/30NOTARIZEDNOFACILt:50'-220Nine-RilePointNuclearStation~Unit1rNiagara'owe'AUTHl.N<ME.AUTHORAFFILIATIONLEMPGES~,T.EI,Niagpra~Mohawk[Power~Corp.RECIP~VAMEIREC~IPSENTAFFILIAD'IOiVOfficelofNuclearReactorRegu1ationeDire'cteriDOCKE~T'05000220

SUBJECT:

-'orwardsreotdetailing.causesof810708-09=-releaseof5o3CiliquidradwasteintoLakeiOntario,Actionstaken<toreducelfrequencyImagnitudeoffutureireleasesdiscusse'd;DISTRIBUTIONCODEi:C001SCOPXEGRECEaVED:Ltt'RENCLSIZE:-TKTLEtEhviron,ReportAmendments8RelatedCorrespondence,'OTES':RECIPIENTI>CODE/NAMEiACTlION:"ORSi02Bc)18POLKpP.,04IINTERNALSELD<NR<r/DE/WEB06'RR'/8II/ElTSB08COPIESLTTRENCL<111110111111RECIPXENTIDCODE/NAMEIORB02LA19ILE)15'RR/DE/HGEB-VRR/DSI'/RAB0,9SIT'NAL<BR07COPIEBLiTYR~ENCL~112=111111EXTERNALSACRSNRciPDRtNTIS20;02l33111LPDRNSIC'305I4,>yi36~"~~TOTALNU4iBER<OFCOPIESREQUIRED:LiTTR20ENCL<19

NMP-9818NIAGARAMOHAWKPOWERCORPORATIONNIAGARA"~MOHAWK300ERIEBOULEVARD.WESTSYRACUSE.N.Y.13202NAectolt,O)gceo$Nuclettlt,Revolt.Regulate.on'UnitedS~mNuclealt.RegulatoltyComm.Nasfungkon,OC20555Re,:OockWNo.50-220gee.Zvt,,NOVO3tga~l1OMillt%KLhaE20tl~g~~@gg'.rIIOnJuly8-9,1981,a(Celt.(ottltmod@o(lte$ueXingoutageandckuu.nga~p,acontltolledd&chaltgeo$~tw.dltatLt',oa~veuIatICe~ntoLake,Onkuu.oCo~ng5.9nuu'.eloccttltltedatCheN~neNLePmU~<1generatingI%any.Enclosedheltein,Lncommence~hEnvironmentalTech.calSpeci(4'cation2.4.1.h,LealtepoMdeta~ng(I)Ae~uo$4helteleaeeand(II)a~ehWkenColteduceChe$ltequencyandmagnitudeo$JLtultelt.eleaseg.Mncelt.ely,Vie;PltukdentNuclealt.'Gen~onTEL/jb/jmEncloattlt.elgII0'ISlIPDR040298811030SADOCK05000220..PDR elia<IJilS CAUSESOFTHERELEASEThefollowing.conditionsdirectlyorindirectlynecessitatedthereleaseofliquidradioactivewasteintoLakeOntarioinJuly1981:,1)TheinfluxoffloordrainwatersintotheRadwastefacilityduringthefirstweekofJuly1981exceededthestoragecapacityofthesystemandtheprocessingcapabilitiesoftheNasteConcentrator.¹11and¹12FloorDrainSampleTanks,theFloorDrainCollector'ank,theNasteNeutralizerTankandtheNasteSurgeTankwereallfilledornearlyfilledwithhighcon-ductivityliquidwaste.2),TheperformanceoftheRadwastedemineralizerwasunex-pectedlypoorduringthelatterpartoftheoutage,resultinginconsiderabledowntime,frequentresinregenerationsandabacklogof"cleanwaste"(ie,radio-activeliquidwastewithaconductivitylessthan20pmhos/cm).3)The'processingofapproximately500,000gallonsoftoruswaterintheearlypartoftheoutageyieldedahighin-ventoryoffiltersludgeandnecessitatedadditionalresinregenerations.4)Thecationtanklateralnetwork,anintegralpartoftheresinregenerationsystem,was-readjustedduringtheoutageandrequiredaboutoneweekdowntime.Thisfurtherreduced'hefrequencyofpermissibleRadwastedemineralizerregen-erationsandtheassociatedprocessingofequipmentdrainwaters.5)CrosscontaminationofequipmentdrainsumpsinRadwasteBuilding229'levationwithhighconductivityfloordrain-filtersludgewatersfromRadwaste225'levationwasimmi-nentunlesspromptactionwastaken.InresponsetothebacklogofRadwastewatersnotedabove,severalactions,includingliquidwastedischargetoLakeOntario,wereevalu-ated.Toprepareforapotentialdischarge,the50,000gallonNasteSurgeTank(onacontinuousrecirculationmode)wassampledandisotopi-callyanalyzedonJuly7,1981.Finally,onJuly8,1981,condition¹5notedabovedictatednoalternativerecourseandthedischargecommenced..PertinentdataassociatedwiththereleaseislistedonTable¹1.Thedischargeconformedwithall10CFR20andEnvironmentalTechnicalSpecifi-cationlimitsregardingnuclideconcentrationsandquantities.

'll.ACTIONPLANNineblilePointtl.hasmadeaconsciouseffortinrecentyearsto,limitthedischargeofliquidradioactivewasteintoLakeOntario.Forexample,inthe42monthperiodbetweenlate1977andJuly1981,lessthan2curiesofliquidwastewasdischarged.Thisvalue,ontheaverage,representsonly.about12'fthedesignobjectivereleasegoalof5curies/year(EnvironmentalTechnicalSpecifications-Section2.'4).Despitepresentcapabilitiestostaywellwithin10CFR20anddesignob-jectivedischarge,limitationsduringnormaloperation,severalmeasuresarenowunderconsideration(*),plannedforimplementation(**)oralreadybeingimplemented(***);whichshouldfurtherenhancethestation'scommit-menttowardthe10CFRSOALARAconceptandreducethefrequencyandmagnitudeoffutureliquidradioactivedischarges.1)Theprocessingoffilter,sludgematerialthrougha-newlyinstalledphaseseparatortherebyreducingconcentrator-inputs(**).jfII2)Theprocurementoftwo3.argecapacity,semi-portable,.standbydemineralizersXoruseduringRadwastedemineral-'izersdowntimes,(iSnecessary).(*"*)3)Theinstallationofanadditional15gpmevaporatorfortheprocessingofhighconductivitywaste.(**),4)5),ReplacementoftheifasteSurgeTankwithanewtankoflargercapacity.(*)TheinstallationofeitherorbothanadditionalstoragetankandanadditionaldemineralizerintheRadwasteCom-plex.(*)

0I~P TABL'E1TankDischargeRate(gpm)DilutionWaterFlow(gpm)BatchMPC(pCi/ml)302.11E51.9E-5ActivityConcentrationinDischargeCanal(gCi/ml)7.4E-6~~MPCinDischargeCanal